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I feel like Seattle is truly a mystery. I also feel like it's very intimidating to a lot of people because of the climate, the presumed attitudes of some the people, the long nights in the winter, etc. I still plan on moving there this summer, but this sort of divide on what it's like/how people will like it is intriguing to me. I don't think I've ever been involved with a place so hit-or-miss before. It's like you truly and literally have no clue if you'll like it until you're there for an extended period of time.
I think the "long winters", "gloominess", etc is all dependent on how well an individual can take that. Not everyone can do it, but others don't care. I've only lived in mainly warm climates where it's strange if it's overcast for more than a couple days so maybe I wouldn't be able to handle it. But then again, there's so much good about the area that who really knows if I would or not?
People in Seattle tend to boast about how beautiful the summers there are, which is perfectly fine, but not everyone can adapt to the nine months in between. Plus, someone's preferred weather varies from person to person. I mean, 60s and 70s in the summer when it's burning up nearly everywhere else is great. A lot of the time. Some people, like myself, love to be outside in the heat, in a swimming pool with some drinks and friends and then when the sun goes down the air is nice and warm. Certainly offers some annoyances at times with the heat and humidity, but I would take 90 degrees over 40 any day. But I'm also aware that a lot of other people would laugh at that notion.
I guess what I'm saying is, I'm finding out that you can try and prepare yourself the best you can, but moving to Seattle pretty much seems like taking the leap and going all-in, and hoping for the best.
Seattle/NW WA is a dark and gloomy sort of place, approx half the year or more. We can gild the lily any way we want, but the fact remains.
Some people just groove on that. There wouldn't be humans in Alaska, British Columbia, most of Russia, or similar if we didn't. Upshot: you can hack it, or not, for whatever reason.
As individuals in the West, we have the freedom to choose our lot in life, however. We are free to succeed, or fail, and make choices that directly correlate to either condition. ("Equal outcomes," social justice, fair-share & similar blue-sky policies notwithstanding.)
I migrated due to economics. Would "prefer" to live in NorCal, for the climate if almost no other reason, but the financials did not add up. Just "scraping by" in California, with politicians continually finding ways to siphon more of my income and discourage small business, is the greater evil "to me" vs. the just-drab weather (more often than not) in the PacNW.
A lot of migrants to sunny but financially oppressive places like SoCal and Hawaii have a very different view. See "freedom," above.
Tangential: Another respondent may be onto something regarding introvert/extrovert and success factors in dealing with Seattle climate. People in my particular neighborhood (Kirkland) mostly butt-out of others' business, which is fine by me and I return the favor while watching all of our collective backs on a by-block basis.
Objectively, I think the previous would be disquieting or even downright offensive to an outdoor-oriented, extroverted person or couple. RE: Seattle Freeze.
I feel like Seattle is truly a mystery. I also feel like it's very intimidating to a lot of people because of the climate, the presumed attitudes of some the people, the long nights in the winter, etc. I still plan on moving there this summer, but this sort of divide on what it's like/how people will like it is intriguing to me. I don't think I've ever been involved with a place so hit-or-miss before. It's like you truly and literally have no clue if you'll like it until you're there for an extended period of time.
I think the "long winters", "gloominess", etc is all dependent on how well an individual can take that. Not everyone can do it, but others don't care. I've only lived in mainly warm climates where it's strange if it's overcast for more than a couple days so maybe I wouldn't be able to handle it. But then again, there's so much good about the area that who really knows if I would or not?
People in Seattle tend to boast about how beautiful the summers there are, which is perfectly fine, but not everyone can adapt to the nine months in between. Plus, someone's preferred weather varies from person to person. I mean, 60s and 70s in the summer when it's burning up nearly everywhere else is great. A lot of the time. Some people, like myself, love to be outside in the heat, in a swimming pool with some drinks and friends and then when the sun goes down the air is nice and warm. Certainly offers some annoyances at times with the heat and humidity, but I would take 90 degrees over 40 any day. But I'm also aware that a lot of other people would laugh at that notion.
I guess what I'm saying is, I'm finding out that you can try and prepare yourself the best you can, but moving to Seattle pretty much seems like taking the leap and going all-in, and hoping for the best.
You're spot on with this post. There's no way of knowing that you'll like a place until you live there for a few years at least. I just happen to be one of those people that have a hard time staying indoors for extended periods of time because of the rain, cold and darkness; and, I firmly believe Seattle's climate affects human personalities and social interaction whether it be that certain types of people love it here, or the climate changes your way of being over a period of time.
There are so many things about Seattle that I love: great schools for my kids, no state income tax, some of the most beautiful landscape in the world (when it's sunny ), clean downtown area, great job high-tech job market, clean air, decent skiing (when the snow is good), all the outdoorsy stuff you can handle (when it's not raining, even though tons of people go out in the rain anyway), etc. Plus, for me, a lot of my family and my wife's family live in the Washington/Idaho area. I would much rather live in Seattle than back east (I grew up in Maryland) or the South or the mid-West. So, it is DEFINITELY not at the bottom of my list of places to live.
Seattle/NW WA is a dark and gloomy sort of place, approx half the year or more. We can gild the lily any way we want, but the fact remains.
Some people just groove on that. There wouldn't be humans in Alaska, British Columbia, most of Russia, or similar if we didn't. Upshot: you can hack it, or not, for whatever reason.
As individuals in the West, we have the freedom to choose our lot in life, however. We are free to succeed, or fail, and make choices that directly correlate to either condition. ("Equal outcomes," social justice, fair-share & similar blue-sky policies notwithstanding.)
I migrated due to economics. Would "prefer" to live in NorCal, for the climate if almost no other reason, but the financials did not add up. Just "scraping by" in California, with politicians continually finding ways to siphon more of my income and discourage small business, is the greater evil "to me" vs. the just-drab weather (more often than not) in the PacNW.
A lot of migrants to sunny but financially oppressive places like SoCal and Hawaii have a very different view. See "freedom," above.
Tangential: Another respondent may be onto something regarding introvert/extrovert and success factors in dealing with Seattle climate. People in my particular neighborhood (Kirkland) mostly butt-out of others' business, which is fine by me and I return the favor while watching all of our collective backs on a by-block basis.
Objectively, I think the previous would be disquieting or even downright offensive to an outdoor-oriented, extroverted person or couple. RE: Seattle Freeze.
My family and I came from San Jose before Seattle, so I totally know what you mean regarding the financial stress the Bay Area puts on you. What I found is that I loved Seattle at first because of the financial freedom I felt in contrast to NorCal, so the weather didn't bother me that much. Plus, my kids were babies so I wasn't going outside doing guy activities anyway. Now that the honeymoon phase of Seattle has worn off, my boys are older and want to do stuff outside, and I make quite a bit more money as I'm further along in my career, moving to a place like San Diego, where there is state income tax but housing is pretty similar to Seattle and not astronomical like Silicon Valley, may fit our stage of life a bit better now.
My family and I came from San Jose before Seattle, so I totally know what you mean regarding the financial stress the Bay Area puts on you. What I found is that I loved Seattle at first because of the financial freedom I felt in contrast to NorCal, so the weather didn't bother me that much. Plus, my kids were babies so I wasn't going outside doing guy activities anyway. Now that the honeymoon phase of Seattle has worn off, my boys are older and want to do stuff outside, and I make quite a bit more money as I'm further along in my career, moving to a place like San Diego, where there is state income tax but housing is pretty similar to Seattle and not astronomical like Silicon Valley, may fit our stage of life a bit better now.
I just moved from San Diego to Seattle and couldn't wait to get out of there. I went to college in CA and lived there for 24 yrs (18 in SF and 6 in SD). I really don't want to even think about SoCal for a long time, just thinking of it makes me ill. I grew up in New England so the weather in Seattle is a piece of cake for me. The San Diego landscape is so brown, brown, brown and treeless it just really got to me. There are almost no native tree species on the SD Coast, all shipped in Palms that sometimes look half dead. San Diego is way more cookie cutter, has way fewer cool, walkable neighborhoods with mom & pops then Seattle, and more big box, sterile car culture. It just felt like such an empty & dead place culturally. And it has cheesy artificial places like the Gaslamp and Pacific Beach. SD sometimes felt more like being in Arizona, Dallas or Vegas culturally. San Diego has no real bustling downtown like Seattle does. I got so sick of the lack of seasons in SD, there is basically one season with a few days of rain in the winter, and it bored the living crap out of me. Yes you have nice beaches, but you can't swim in the water there it's too cold 12 mos of the year (contrary to what a lot of people think). There is no holiday or Christmas spirit there, it just doesn't feel like Christmas in brown treeless dead San Diego in late December. My biggest regret is I didn't leave San Diego earlier. I just love the vibe of the Pac NW so much better. I think people have way better taste in everything and it's just much a much higher IQ crowd up here. San Diego is full of a lot of "intellectual pygmies" or "mental midgits" if you will. The architecture is also a lot better in Seattle IMO. I just like the urban energy up here a lot more (I live in Capital Hill). There just wasn't a lot of people I had things in common with in San Diego, just kind of a low mentality, low class, low culture crowd IMO. Yes there are some smart interesting people there, but it is the minority big time, where in Seattle it is the majority. Many people in the Pac NW also have a value system more supportive of things like the environment, better public transportation, local organic food, limiting sprawl, etc... which I like. You can't really find that type of community in San Diego. CA also punishes successful high income earners with a massive 10% state income tax (all the while the the CA state employees are the highest paid in the U.S. with retired librarians making $250k a year pensions for life and state psychiatrists making $850k a year on the back of the high income tax payers busting their arse in the private sector), that is a reason in itself for anyone making a lot of money with a portable small business that they can move to get out of that state. SoCal and San Diego also have a lot more ghetto run down areas vs. Seattle. There is a much larger poor uneducated segment of the population there than Seattle. Seattle just feels cleaner and more upscale. Anyway I could go on and on ripping on San Diego but I'll stop....I should really change my user name to "hellissocal" LOL
I just moved from San Diego to Seattle and couldn't wait to get out of there. I went to college in CA and lived there for 24 yrs (18 in SF and 6 in SD). I really don't want to even think about SoCal for a long time, just thinking of it makes me ill. I grew up in New England so the weather in Seattle is a piece of cake for me. The San Diego landscape is so brown, brown, brown and treeless it just really got to me. There are almost no native tree species on the SD Coast, all shipped in Palms that sometimes look half dead. San Diego is way more cookie cutter, has way fewer cool, walkable neighborhoods with mom & pops then Seattle, and more big box, sterile car culture. It just felt like such an empty & dead place culturally. And it has cheesy artificial places like the Gaslamp and Pacific Beach. SD sometimes felt more like being in Arizona, Dallas or Vegas culturally. San Diego has no real bustling downtown like Seattle does. I got so sick of the lack of seasons in SD, there is basically one season with a few days of rain in the winter, and it bored the living crap out of me. Yes you have nice beaches, but you can't swim in the water there it's too cold 12 mos of the year (contrary to what a lot of people think). There is no holiday or Christmas spirit there, it just doesn't feel like Christmas in brown treeless dead San Diego in late December. My biggest regret is I didn't leave San Diego earlier. I just love the vibe of the Pac NW so much better. I think people have way better taste in everything and it's just much a much higher IQ crowd up here. San Diego is full of a lot of "intellectual pygmies" or "mental midgits" if you will. The architecture is also a lot better in Seattle IMO. I just like the urban energy up here a lot more (I live in Capital Hill). There just wasn't a lot of people I had things in common with in San Diego, just kind of a low mentality, low class, low culture crowd IMO. Yes there are some smart interesting people there, but it is the minority big time, where in Seattle it is the majority. Many people in the Pac NW also have a value system more supportive of things like the environment, better public transportation, local organic food, limiting sprawl, etc... which I like. You can't really find that type of community in San Diego. CA also punishes successful high income earners with a massive 10% state income tax (all the while the the CA state employees are the highest paid in the U.S. with retired librarians making $250k a year pensions for life and state psychiatrists making $850k a year on the back of the high income tax payers busting their arse in the private sector), that is a reason in itself for anyone making a lot of money with a portable small business that they can move to get out of that state. SoCal and San Diego also have a lot more ghetto run down areas vs. Seattle. There is a much larger poor uneducated segment of the population there than Seattle. Seattle just feels cleaner and more upscale. Anyway I could go on and on ripping on San Diego but I'll stop....I should really change my user name to "hellissocal" LOL
It all depends on what you find satisfaction in. I'm married with 2 boys, so my life becomes less about the people around me and more about them. So, my desire to find intellectual people into organic food may be much less than a single person coming in to a new location with absolutely nobody and needing to form an identity with a group of people.
Architecture isn't a big deal to me...if you're into that sort of thing, more power to you; if I wanted to see cool architecture, I'll go on a vacation to Paris or Rome and experience it that way. I'd much rather own a tract home that was designed in the 2000s for proper functional living, than buy a home built in 1910 in Queen Anne with "tons of character" that has a non-functional floor design.
I don't care that much about mom and pops, but you'll definitely like Seattle cuz they're all over here.
Like any city, so much depends on where you live. If you live in north San Diego county, then it doesn't feel uneducated or poor or run down. If you live in Bellevue or Greenlake, same thing. But if you live in south San Diego or south Seattle, then it's more uneducated, poorer and less likely to have people that have thoughts or ideas in common with you. I personally feel you can find like-minded individuals in any city...you just have to look.
As far as the weather, more power to you if you love this weather. If you like hanging out indoors a ton and chatting with intellectual people in coffee shops on the weekend, Seattle is the place for you. Personally, I hate it...I like doing active stuff and experiencing things outdoors. Sure it's green everywhere, but the weather wore on me over time...took 5 years. To me, what good is all this green and outdoorsy landscape if I can hardly ever use it? I'm an extroverted, active, fit and athletic guy that likes going outside and doing sports, swimming, riding my bike, hiking, etc. If I can find a place that allows me and my family to do that year round vs a place where I can do it 3 months out of the year, I'm sold. It's those day-to-day activities that make up my life...not looking at architecture or going to museums.
By the way, Seattle fiscal liberals want a progressive state income tax just like California. They like taxing the rich and redistributing wealth to the poor as much as possible. It's just a matter of time before they nudge their way in to doing that...I know not now, but they will eventually. It's all the fiscal conservatives voting to keep that at Bay, but eventually fiscal liberals will completely take over and make it happen...it's inevitable. It'll start as a millionaires tax, but progressively get worse...you watch.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,724 posts, read 58,067,115 times
Reputation: 46190
Quote:
Originally Posted by Inkpoe
My dad worked the overnight shift for 20 years in Seattle. Even he couldn't get out of Seattle quickly enough. A week and a half after retirement, ... he bolted out to Tennessee where he's now more content and likes the weather there immensely. ....
I could work a full time job helping friends move AWAY from rain. (5 trips to TX, 2 to AZ, in the last yr) Working nights definitely is a PLUS if you need more artificial light. (worked for me for 20 of my 30 in WA)
I spent all day outside working on farm, and nights inside a factory supporting my day hobby.
Quote:
Originally Posted by usernametaken
So you stay in hotel and motels for all these months in CA and NV? I would hate to do that, plus would miss my friends and hobbies in the Greater Seattle area.
Is there a site you use for the sun-break flights? I tend to use up my frequent flyer miles when they have specials to California.
No hotels / motels if I can help it.
I find new friends everyday as I stay in private guest homes. $10 / night worldwide, been doing it for 25+ yrs. Makes traveling VERY educational and high in relationship building and learning about new people and places FROM THE locals.
sun-break deals on airfare... I do airfarewatchdog, and get weekly emails from airlines. MOSTLY I use SWA low fare calender and chose the least expensive days. SWA allows FREE changes which I do frequently.
The gray doesn't bother me at all. What is bothersome for me, though, is the shorter days. I don't get depressed about it or anything, but I work 10+ hours a day so there's a portion of the year where I only see daylight/sun on the weekends.
I think that is also true for me. Go to work in the dark. Work all day in a cubicle with no window. Come home in the dark. It's always a mini celebration when you actually start noticing that the days are getting longer.
I just finished my first year in WA state - we got here last year on 1 January, arriving to sunny skies in Seattle (we live a bit south of there though, in Olympia).
Everything was great until October. I love the scenery, seeing Mount Rainier, being close to the water. Then, in October, I felt like the bottom was going to drop out. Three weeks straight of rain and I honestly never felt so affected by weather before in my life.
Mind, I lived in England for three years so I swore up and down before I got here, "Oh, I know what it is like."
I did not.
Even when I lived in England, I did end up getting a dawn simulator lamp to help me through the winter. But the grey skies are much more prevalent here.
Still, we are not likely to pack up soon so these are the things I have done to help improve my mood (and they have all worked):
1. Dawn simulator and light therapy (about 30 minutes a morning)
2. Daily exercise outside - I am a bike commuter and I have a dog, so I am outside at least an hour a day, if not more
3. Vitamin D
4. Cut out all alcohol
I haven't tried taking short trips away yet, but that will be on the list for next year. I know some may say #4 goes against the grain here (there seems to be a lot of wine & beer places and events), but it just became necessary for me because it was adding fuel to the fire when it came to my mood.
What's funny is that I was "ok" with the weather for the first 2-3 years because we came from California and I thought "boy, I'd love the rainier and cooler weather because it's just sunny all the time here." But, then it started driving me bat-**** crazy.
By the way, now I know why Mt "Rainier" gets its name
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), clean downtown area, great job high-tech job market, clean air, decent skiing (when the snow is good), all the outdoorsy stuff you can handle (when it's not raining, even though tons of people go out in the rain anyway), etc. Plus, for me, a lot of my family and my wife's family live in the Washington/Idaho area. I would much rather live in Seattle than back east (I grew up in Maryland) or the South or the mid-West. So, it is DEFINITELY not at the bottom of my list of places to live.
Just moved from SD
